Perspective

[frozengopher]

Stealing from what another poster started last week, I'm going to write what I think are important facts about this game without letting emotion spew all over the place. Don't post unless you can be rational, realistic, and back up your opinions with facts. This thread is a safety teepee for legitimate GH posters. Not a sweat lodge, however.

We lost to a team we were expected to lose to. We lost poorly, however.

In the first half, we played extremely well on both sides of the ball in the most hostile environment in the Big Ten. We were obviously physically outmatched, yet we were down 0-7. The play calling in the first half was legit. Weber even showed some moxie by getting the ball to other receivers when Decker went down. A few dropped passes killed drives. Traye got burned on a missed assignment, yet he had a few plays where he was right on it. Pryor sucks, plain and simple. We just do not have the athletic ability to get on him. Arm tackles will not suffice.

The second half was a disaster. Chalk up 21 points (maybe 28, I was well into a few drinks by then) to turnovers. Coaching decisions/adjustments left something to be desired. Weber isn't it, his passes and decision making were very suspect. Far too much reliance on Tow-Arnett, it seemed. Where were our other receivers after the 30 minute mark? It really appeared to me that we gave up on defense as well. A true freshman rb gashed us up. Putting in Gray at the end of the game resulted in points. Albeit we were against their second/third stringers, the points were very welcome. Gray looked pretty damn good the entire game, and it is my belief that he should get the majority of snaps for the remainder of the season, as he brings another dimension to the offense.

Our offensive line is the most offensive thing to ever grace college football. I feel really, really bad for Weber, because I think he could be a really decent pocket passer with time to throw. I also feel bad that his throwing motion got changed, as his numbers this year compared to last year can only be a direct correlation to that. His line and available talent were even worse last year.

We still have serious discipline issues on and off the field at the halfway mark. This is really, really bad. C'mon Brew.

 

[tikited]

Not much else to add to that except that Brewester does not NEED to go at this point. He didn't fumble or throw the interceptions. He didn't quit. He didn't melt-down. It's his team, but we can't start over again so soon. Starting Gray is a must from now on, but that is the biggest change this team can handle imo. Buckle down and beat MSU. If that happens, the season is where it was supposed to be at record wise.

 

[frozengopher]

Even if we lose to MSU, I'm looking at our performance against Illinois (or, gasp, SDSU) as an indicator as to where we're at. 6-6 will not put me into a mini coma this year. 5-7 will make me extremely unhappy, however.

 

[GopherBeef]

The fumble to open the second half was a real killer. We had no energy after that. I am very disappointed that the defense seemed to give up late in the third quarter.

First half offense-very happy to see us moving the ball. The slant in pass was there many times and we took advantage of it. I don't know if OSU adjusted or we just did not go back to it.

First half defense-Defense actually made third down stops. Lawrence seemed to be back to last year's form. Small was owning the middle.

I think I now know why we have not seen more of Lair this year!

 

[Mulligan]

It looked like there was a decent plan going in to get Weber into a rhythm, and then we had the dropped passes, the penalties, and one really awful pass that messed it up. In the second half I just felt sorry for him. I know he makes poor decisions but when a team gets us behind or into long yardage, they just really come after Weber.

The wide open touchdown pass they had the first half was big. It gave them the first big positive play of the game and allowed them to relax. Not sure what a coach can do if your two guys back there either don't communicate, or one plays one coverage and the other plays another coverage. I think it was against Air Force that a receiver also was ridiculously open against the same side of our defense.

I also thought we gave up midway through the third quarter. Instead of fighting back, we just let them get revved up. You could really see it on the kickoffs. It's been one of our strengths, but the way they were flying down there, we couldn't get it past the 20. Brewster might want to thank Tressel for calling the dogs off when he did because it could have been even more ugly.
I had visions of the Iowa game last year the way we were unraveling.

I'm usually not one to bitch about the refs, but they were brutal today. In the first half there was a possible interference on Green (?) that wasn't called. Soon after Simmons got called for interference on a very questionable call. Reverse the two calls and things might have developed differently. Small got a personal foul for coming in late, but Gray went down at midfield in the second half and an Ohio State player came in equally late and nothing. Of course, there was the push and the interception play also.

I'm still believing Brewster can do it, but my faith in him was really tested today. This was a winnable game and we got beat 38-7? The mistakes and a general lack of poise didn't impress anyone today. Considering what Penn State did at Michigan today, I can live with last week's
game. This one today feels like we just screwed it away. If we could have made a couple of big plays instead of giving them the first touchdown and muffing the second half kick-off, I really think they would have come apart.

We're obviously an offensively-challenged team so I certainly hope the defense can start creating points again.

I think next week's game is huge for this program. We can't afford another mistake filled carnival. Brewster can restore some of my confidence by making the right quarterback choice whatever that might be; having his team play with discipline; compensate for the loss of Decker if he can't play; and getting the players to play full out for 60 minutes. Right now Michigan State is tied with Iowa 6-6. I think a heart breaking loss by the Spartans would be to our advantage.